Six Indian fishermen in an Iranian vessel who were stranded in the Arabian sea off Kerala coast and later detained by the Indian Coast Guard personnel on Monday were released in Kochi on Tuesday. Five of them, who hail from Ramanathapuram district, returned home.
Six Indian fishermen — Nithya Dayalan, 30, Arun Dayalan, 30, Kalidas, 45, Rajendran, 30, and Muneeswaran, 37, all from Ramanathapuram district, and Maria Denis, 38, of Colachel in Kanniyakumari district — went to Iran last month to work in a fishing company on a contract basis. Due to the ill-treatment meted out to them there, they planned to escape from Iran.
Using an Iranian vessel, they sailed in the Arabian sea. When they reached the sea off the Kerala coast they got stranded as all they had spent all the fuel for the vessel.
Learning about the stranded vessel, the Indian Coast Guard personnel reached the spot and detained the fishermen along with the vessel and took them to Kochi for further investigation.
During the investigation, the authorities learned that the detained fishermen were innocent, and released them, sources said.
